Origin and Habitat: Peruvian regions Arequipa and Puno south to the Chilean Antofagasta Region and west to the Bolivian department of La Paz, Oruro and Potosí on the west side of the Andes. (Western South America)Type locality: Near Sumbay, 3830 m, PeruAltitude range: The species is common at altitudes 3500-4700 meters above sea level.Habitat and ecology:Cumulopuntia boliviana subs. ignescens grows in high altitudes close to the line of high Andes. It is present in areas fully exposed to the sun, generally in areas or slopes facing north. It never occurs on rocks, but rather on sandy grounds in close association with the local form of Maihueniopsis glomerata. Exceptionally, wild and domesticated New World camelids forage on this species. It reproduces by seed and spreads vegetatively by means detached joints or cladodes, which can take root and establish themselves as independent individuals.

Description:Cumulopuntia boliviana subs. ignescens (Cumulopuntia ignescens) is one of the varieties of Cumulopuntia boliviana which is a somewhat variable taxon with several collected extreme forms that were early published as full species or as varieties, but these were too weak botanically to stand, so they are all combined in Cumulopuntia boliviana. It forms a dense and sometimes swollen, dense, spiny cushion 30 to 60 cm in diameter, distinguished from the type for its long, brownish-red spines.Derivation of specific name: Latin 'ignescens', present participle of the verb 'ignescere' to become inflamed, on fire, from 'ignis' fire. The specific epithet alludes to the characteristic red colour of the spines and of the flowers.Stems (joints): Up to 9 cm long and 4 cm in diameter, strong, oval, apex more or less conical and pointed with noticeable tubercles in the upper part. Some of them are strong, others thinner.Areoles: About 15 the basal ones small spineless, the upper ones located on the top of the joints larger and spiny.Spines: About 20, arising only in the upper areoles. Erect, reddish brown, dark with age, very crowded, up to 10(-26) cm long. Glochids straw yellow 3.5-5.5 cm long. Flowers: Red to orange-yellow up to 3.5 centimetres long. Fruits: Fleshy, finally dry and pulp-less, barrel-shaped filled with numerous spines up to 6 centimetres long on the edge.

Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Cumulopuntia boliviana group

Cumulopuntia boliviana(Salm-Dyck) F.Ritter: is a densely armed cactus with golden brown spines that form large mounds up to 100 cm in diameter. Flowers yellow (rarely orange, pink or red). Distribution: Southern Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

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Cultivation and Propagation: Cumulopuntia boliviana subs. ignescens cannot endure any standing heat and need an absolutely airy and sunny place this brings very healthy plants with a good spination and flowers, but often in cultivation the plants are rarely so compact as they are best grown inside a greenhouse because of our very humid weather in North Europe and America which gives a relatively low light intensity compared to the temperature. However, this species takes considerable frost and is certainly worth growing.Soil: Use a very draining compost-mix with a high mineral content, they needed deeper pots to accommodate the big tap root.Watering: Water and feed in the vegetation period from April until to mid of September, keep dry and cool in winter, they have to be stimulated to bloom by dryness and you may give them water first when the plants start to produce the new buds.Repotting: Generally, these plants should be re-potted every other year, in order to provide fresh soil. Pot bound, starved plants will rapidly look tatty and won’t flower well.Hardiness: Hardiness Zone 8. The plant tolerates low temperatures (-8°C), can tolerate occasional snow cover for up to a couple of weeks per year.Propagation: Cuttings (let dehydrate the cuttings for a few weeks and the roots will coming quick). To get new clones it is necessary to use seeds. Seeds require some preliminary manipulations, in fact, the shell/husks of the seeds are very hard (like a hazelnut), it is necessary to soak the seeds 24 hours, and break or scarify the husks before planting, by any means. In these conditions, germination occurs in 5 or 6 days. Otherwise, with intact seeds, germination can take several months or even years.